


Got Something for You

by slamncram (GettheSalt)



Series: Trettien [27]
Category: Thor (Comics), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Fictober, Gen, Getting Back Together, M/M, Post-Break Up, Step-Brothers, Step-Sibling Incest, Texting, Wingman Fandral
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 04:48:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16422686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GettheSalt/pseuds/slamncram
Summary: Loki's shop is meant to cater to the arcane arts, and Fandral's 'friend' certainly doesn't seem to have a magical problem, so Loki's not sure whyheis being asked to help out. It isn't until Fandral comes to make his fourth appeal for help that the truth comes out.





	Got Something for You

**Author's Note:**

> Fictober Day 27/31. Modern Witch Loki is always fun and I would love to play around with this more, later on. Plus, I have always loved the potential for friendship between Fandral and Loki and wanted to include it.

“Loki, I need help.”

Loki looked up from where he was seated behind the counter of his shop, not in any great rush, because this _clearly_ wasn’t a customer but a visitor. It wasn’t often that he had visitors, much less often that they announced themselves like this, so Loki knew who it was.

“Fandral.” He said, monotone. “You always need help. What’s the problem now?”

Fandral had been Thor’s friend, first. Most of Thor’s friends had never really taken to Loki the way Fandral did, and that was just fine. Fandral didn’t have a problem with Loki’s ‘weird habits’, or the fact that he owned and operated his own shop that catered to magic practitioners in the 21st century. And when Thor had moved up north, Fandral hadn’t simply forgotten Loki existed.

That was why Loki was willing to put down the book in his hands and give the other man his full attention.

“Well, it’s not really a _problem_. Well, perhaps it is, but it’s not _my_ problem. As you know, I rarely slip into problems I can’t --”

“--Fandral.” Loki interjected. “Problem.”

“Well, it’s really my _friend’s_ problem, you see.”

Ah, that made sense. Fandral wasn’t usually the type to seem _nervous_ or prattle on. If he was lying to Loki about a problem he had, though – through the ‘my friend’ excuse – that explained things a little better.

“What’s your friend’s problem?”

“They want to start talking to an old friend. You know, someone they lost contact with? Had a falling out with about something stupid.”

Loki nodded, wondering exactly where this was going. His shop was meant to cater to the arcane arts, not social sciences, but he was interested to see how Fandral connected his ‘friend’s’ issue to the things Loki knew best.

“So, I need something – for this friend – to start talking to their old friend again.”

Loki blinked once. Then again. When he felt it had been an appropriate amount of time, he answered, “so text them.”

“Text them. Right.” It was Fandral’s turn to look unimpressed. “Why would I come to _you_ to know that? We both know you’re the real deal. Thor’s witch step-brother.” Loki raised his eyebrows. “So... Don’t you have something for that? Something legit? Like, for luck, or something. To, I don’t know, _attract_ the old friend’s thoughts?”

Loki sighed, and pushed himself back from the counter so he could get off the stool. “First, don’t call me a witch. Second, this person is an _idiot_ , if they’re going to go to all this work just to say ‘hi’ to someone, but yes. I have something like that.”

He got it for Fandral from the back room, charged him half the price he would for a regular customer, and sent him on his way.

Later that night, when he’d locked all the doors and went to his apartment over the shop, Loki’s phone went off. He glanced at it, half-expecting to see a message from Fandral, asking why it wasn’t working yet.

Instead, he saw a message from someone he hadn’t spoken to in a while.

Thor.

 

_Hey. I know it’s been a while. Just wanted to reach out and let you know I’m thinking of you, witch. I hope the shop’s doing okay. xx Thor_

 

Not the message that Loki had been expecting at all, but it didn’t _upset_ him, exactly. That must have been just the timing; he’d been thinking about Thor, earlier, because Fandral had brought him up. Maybe he’d told Thor that he had stopped by Loki’s shop earlier. Whatever the case, a quick glance showed Loki that the last time he’d spoken to Thor had been three months previous, just to ask when his step-father’s birthday was, again.

 

_It has been. Nice to hear from you, glad to know you’re alive. Shop’s doing fine, there’s always people looking to become pagans out there who need what I peddle._

 

Loki hesitated, chewing his bottom lip and thinking over his next words.

 

_Hope you and Jane are well and not freezing up there. Talk soon. xx_

 

There. That was civil and polite enough. It didn’t need to bring up anything from their past, and Loki was proud of himself for managing it without freaking out. He set the phone back down and went back to getting his dinner ready before bed.

The phone chimed again.

 

_Actually..._

 

 

 

“Did you know Thor and Jane broke up?”

Loki knew there were better things to open with, when he arrived at Fandral’s the next night for their weekly hang-out, but he didn’t care. He hadn’t known this information, and he wondered if Fandral had. It quickly became apparent, while they mixed drinks before sitting down in front of the television, no, Fandral wasn’t aware.

“Weird. He moved up there for her, you know.”

“I know.” Loki said, crossing his legs and settling into the corner of the couch. “How could I forget? We all thought he was crazy.”

Fandral laughed, nodding before he picked up his phone. Its screen had lit up with a message as Loki had leaned forward to grab the remote. Clearing his throat, Fandral set the phone back down.

“Hey, so, remember my friend?”

Loki groaned. “I’m not working, Fandral.”

“I know, I know! But it’s kind of... important I feel bad for them, you know? They want to talk to this person again --”

“--And did they do what I told you to tell them?”

“Yes,” Fandral nodded. “Oh, yeah, they did, but they also want to kind of... apologize for what they did to hurt this friend and cause the problem between them in the first place.”

Loki settled on the next episode of the Netflix series they had been watching. “So, then, apologize.” Loki shrugged, looked over at Fandral. “Two words. ‘I’m sorry.’ Sometimes a little more than that, but you’d be surprised the amount of power that particular word has.”

Fandral laughed quietly. “Well, it’s not that easy. My friend is a little nervous, because their friend has a tendency not to forgive things, and they don’t want to walk into a trap.”

Loki sighed. “You want me to whip you up something for courage?”

“That would be _amazing_. Could you? I think that’s exactly what they need.”

Loki assured Fandral that he could, but it wouldn’t be done until the next afternoon, and Fandral would be paying him by not asking Loki to pay his half of tonight’s food and drink.

 

 

First the text. Now this.

Loki stared at the phone in his hand. When it had first started ringing, he’d thought it was Fandral, calling to tell him he’d changed his mind, and Loki didn’t need to brew him a drought of courage, he would be fine. Instead, he was faced with a smiling blonde man, his arm thrown around Loki while he took a selfie. With Loki’s phone.

Thor.

If he didn’t make up his mind soon, Thor was going to hang up, and Loki knew that, and that was the only reason he hit the green _accept_ button, lifting the phone to his ear and standing up from the table where he’d been working on Fandral’s drought.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me. Sorry, I know it’s late.”

Loki glanced over at the clock. 2:13 AM. Yes, it was a little late.

“What’s up? Is something wrong?” Loki asked, because that had to be it. Thor had moved away, left everything behind and started his life fresh with his new girlfriend and new friends. If he was calling back home, it couldn’t be _good_.

“No, no, everything is fine.” Thor assured him at the other end of the phone. “I’ve just... It was nice to talk to you last night. I wanted to hear your voice.”

Loki remembered those words said in a much softer tone, back when Thor had been away for school. Back then, they had thrilled Loki. Now, they just sort of made him ache.

“It was nice to talk to you. But it’s late, Thor, and I--”

“--I’m sorry.”

Loki paused, and when he didn’t speak immediately, Thor forged forward.

“I’m sorry for how things went with Jane. I know that I hurt you, and there’s... a lot more to it than that, but I just wanted to say I was sorry.”

That was unexpected, but Loki nodded, before catching himself and stuttering out, “yeah. Yeah, it’s – you know, it’s in the past. Really in the past, right?”

He could hear the smile in Thor’s voice when he replied, “yeah. I just wanted to make sure you knew I was sorry. I’ll let you sleep now. Night, Lo’.”

“Goodnight, Thor.”

 

 

When Fandral came in to get the drought, late the next afternoon, Loki was about ready to ban him.

“No. I was up until nearly 4 making this for ‘your friend’.” Loki dropped his hands on the counter, and heard a gasp from over in the stacks where some young girls were perusing his selection of books. Letting out a breath, he softened his tone, though the look he fixed Fandral with was still ice-cold.

“No more aid for your friend. They want my help, they come in themselves. _You_ are losing money in this deal.”

“Please, Loki?” Fandral asked, and his tone was so whiny Loki nearly laughed. “I’m just trying to be a good friend, help a guy out. He’s down in the dumps, he just wants to fix things. And what you’ve been doing has worked so well already, and he needs just... you know, a little extra encouragement to confess.”

“Confess.” Loki repeated.

“Yeah, uh. He’s kind of, you know, the person he had the falling out with. He misses them, wants them to know, wants to find out if they miss him, too.”

Loki sighed, and pushed the bottle of dusk red liquid across the counter. “I made extra. That should do the trick. It’s courage and a little luck. Artificial, of course. Even magic is no substitute for the real thing.”

“You’re the best, Loki.” Fandral said, picking up the bottle. “I mean it. My friend _really_ appreciates it.”

Loki stifled a yawn as he watched Fandral leave, cradling the bottle to his chest. “Yeah, he better.”

 

 

Another phone call. This one, at least, wasn’t in the dead of night, but after being up so late the one before, Loki had been ready to turn in. It was barely after 9 and he was already curled up in his bed, scowling at the display picture for his step-brother that was filling up his screen.

“Thor, I’m exhausted.”

“I know,” Thor said, and Loki hesitated, replaying the tone of his voice. Warm, but like he was on the verge of laughter.

“Have you been drinking?”

“Just a bit. With a friend.”

Loki rolled his eyes. “What’s with the phone calls and texting all of a sudden, hm? Nothing, for months, and then, once you break up with your girlfriend, it’s me you want to hear from again? That’s not how it works, Thor.”

The silence on the other end of the line was so profound that Loki clicked his tongue, and pulled it away from his ear. Fine, if Thor didn’t want to talk, he wouldn’t either.

“Wait, wait!”

Loki hesitated, with his finger over the ‘end call’ button. Thor knew him well enough to have known that was his next move.

“What?”

Thor’s voice was tinny and quiet with the phone at a distance, but Loki didn’t need to strain to make out his words. “Just, one question, all right? One question, and I won’t call again.”

It was a reasonable request. Considering Thor was drunk, Loki was _lucky_ that was all he was requesting and, with a sigh he put the phone back to his ear.

“Fine. What is it?”

“Do you still think about it? That night?”

Loki didn’t need to ask more, to look for clarification. He knew what it was that Thor was asking without having to stretch. The night, just the two of them in the apartment over Loki’s shop. They hadn’t slept that night, and Loki had been much less grouchy about it the next morning than he had been this afternoon with Fandral.

Five weeks later, Thor had met Jane.

“I do.” Loki answered, quietly. “Why?”

Thor hummed. “Just wondered if I was the only one. Night, Lo’.”

Loki swallowed. “Goodnight, Thor.”

 

 

When the bells that Loki had mounted against the door jingled early the next morning, only five minutes after he’d unlocked it, Loki shook his head. He didn’t need to look to know who it was, because he’d woken up to the cheery ‘ _Coming by!_ ’ text from Fandral this morning.

He was in no mood to be asked to brew a love potion for Fandral’s friend. Not this morning, when he’d already tried, and failed, seven times, to text Thor and ask if they could have a real conversation sometime.

“Fandral, really, I’m in no mood for...”

Fandral wasn’t alone this time.

It had been years since Loki had seen him in person, but he didn’t look any less beautiful than he had. His once long hair was cut short, in an edgy and stylish fashion, and he was sporting more of a beard than the charming stubble he’d had before, but he was instantly recognizable. His chest seemed broader, his arms bigger, but he still looked gentle. Soft. Someone you could cuddle up to while the sun was rising and peeking in the bedroom windows.

“You in the mood to see me?”

“Thor.” Loki breathed, quietly. Next to his step-brother, Fandral was grinning, broadly, clearly proud of himself.

“When you asked about him the other night, it was hard not to tell you he was moving back to town. He’s been staying with me the last few days.”

Loki nodded. “Mhmm. Three days or so, I assume?”

“About that.”

“And your friend that needed help?”

Fandral gestured to Thor, and Loki got the answer he should have already had, days before. At least the _night_ before. Fandral had been fishing, on Thor’s behalf. Trying to find the way that Loki thought someone should reach out, the way they should apologize, the way they should try and find out if interest was shared. Honesty, bravery, and a little luck, and here Thor was, smiling at him, everything about his body language making Loki sure he was barely keeping from rushing across the front of the shop.

“I see. Well, if your friend is looking for more arcane answers to his problems, maybe he should ask himself, this time.”

“I could do that. Fandral, you, uh...”

Fandral glanced up at Thor and, with a start, headed for the door.

“Yeah, right, I uh. Yep.”

Loki waited until the door had swung shut, and then he leaned forward on the counter, propping his chin on his hand.

“He never did ask questions. Never really seemed to think it would be out-of-place or wrong.”

“He doesn’t.” Thor answered. “I told him the truth when I called to ask if I could crash with him for a bit. He said he sort of figured, when your reaction to Jane was a lot closer to Sif’s than a normal brother’s concern.”

He moved closer to the counter, and Loki was sure he could feel his heart beating so hard it would beat out of his chest.

“What can I do for you, then?”

Thor smiled, and leaned on the counter himself, his face inches from Loki’s.

“You have something that I can use to rekindle an old flame?”

Loki didn’t stop to think. He let his body take control, reaching out to Thor and pulling him in so he could kiss him. Nothing too much, just enough that he could feel sparks running through his veins when he pulled back.

“Yeah, I do. If you give me a second to close up for the morning, I think I have something for that in the back.”


End file.
